


Crash

by Nochi



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Gen, spoilers for book one finale, suicidal contemplation, very brief romantic mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-02
Updated: 2014-07-02
Packaged: 2018-02-07 04:53:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1885812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nochi/pseuds/Nochi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra's thoughts from the top of the mountain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crash

**Author's Note:**

> This was written roughly one thousand years ago, right after book one ended.

She had always loved the water. She'd been able to swim since she could walk, a virtue of being Water Tribe, and the water had always been her second home. 

So that's how she could think of this. She was just going home. There'd be no pulling the ocean up to catch her fall this time. She'd crash into it, like she had everything else in her life. 

At least Mako wouldn't have to see it. She'd sent him off; she could only hope he'd listen. She had known what he was going to say before he opened his mouth, tried to fend him off, didn't want to hear it. Like if she didn't hear it, it wasn't true. She wouldn't be laying that extra level of hurt down on him. 

But she had, and she knew, and she was. Like a runaway Satomobile, straight through his life. 

Crash.

And Tenzin, oh god, the last Avatar had been his _father_ , what he had to think of her now! The failed Avatar, bending gone, the threat she was meant to protect the world against escaped. The Avatar's legacy ruined, broken into pieces. 

Crash. 

Lin had never liked her. She thought she was reckless and stupid, slamming her way through the world.

Crash. 

Asami's whole life torn wide open, like a wound.

Crash.

She clenched her fists in her coat sleeves, face pressed against her arm. She'd ruined everything. She'd been so proud of being the Avatar, worn it like a badge, and now it'd been ripped away. She was nothing. She was less than nothing, she was a has-been, she was pointless, she could feel countless past Avatars in her head, casting judgement, telling her how weak she was.

And then her parents' faces were in her mind. They'd loved her before she was the Avatar. They wouldn't care if she couldn't Bend. 

Tenzin's kids. Solemn little Jinora, Ikki with her endless questions, Meelo so full of energy and life. Her title had never mattered to them. And little Rohan, he didn't even know her, he wouldn't know what she was before. 

But she'd put them all in danger. She would again. Amon was still out there and now she couldn't do anything about it. She was just a stupid kid who'd been more concerned with pro-bending than what mattered. 

Pro-bending. Side by side with Mako and Bolin. Her friends. Not just in the arena, all the times they'd fought for real, for their lives, side by side...she could still stand with them. And Tenzin, and Asami. She'd begged forgiveness so many times and it had always been granted. Her life was full of wonderful people, people that she still needed, even if she wasn't sure they needed her. Tears gathered in her eyes as she looked down at the water again. Not going home yet. Not this time. 

There was color in the corner of her vision, bright yellow and orange, and she hid her face, telling Tenzin to go away. She wasn't ready to face him, or anyone, not until her tears were gone and her mind was back in order. 

"But you called me here." 

Her head shot up, her eyes wide, the tears sliding down her cheeks barely registering as realization bloomed in her mind. She said his name, quietly, _Aang_ , and he smiled at her.

"When we hit our lowest point, we are open to our greatest change." She choked back a dry laugh at that; being up this high had been the only thing that saved her. If he knew what she was thinking he didn't show it, laying his hands on her head and her heart, and it was heat blooming through her entire body and her mind was full, full of voices and a thousand years of power that threatened to overwhelm her. Suddenly she knew, a knowledge that made her heart swell and her tears start afresh. _She could fix it_. She _was_ the Avatar, and this was her path. Balance could still be restored. 

Then she was steadied, a sensation like hands on her shoulders, and a thousand people speaking with Aang's voice. _We're here. We were always here. We'll help you. We'll always help you._

The warmth faded, the light leaking from her eyes, and when she could see again there was Mako. Her heart stopped for a second - how much had he seen, how long had he been there - and there was something like laughter in the back of her mind when he grabbed her. She was swung around, nothing but joy between them, and when she was set down she knew that she had truly found her footing, her way forward.

"I love you, too."

Crash.


End file.
